WORLD WAR II SNIPERS - The Men, Their Guns, Their Stories

A volume in the 'Casemate Illustrated' series. Thousands of books have been published on World War II, but relatively little attention has been paid to snipers. This work draws on memoirs, government documents and interviews, as well as eyewitness accounts, to provide a comprehensive account of snipers during World War II.

Although belligerents shared certain common traits, each had its own methodology for selecting and training snipers and, in the event of heavy casualties, for replacing them. Drawn from hunters, competitive shooters, natural marksmen, city dwellers, farmers and veteran soldiers, snipers fought for supremacy on the battlefield and instilled a paralysing fear in the enemy. Sometimes admired by their own comrades, sometimes despised because of the reprisals they provoked, they were always too few in number. Their battlefield role, their victories and their defeats are here reconstructed from neglected or forgotten sources.

The scope of this study is broad, with three chapters on each of the major theaters of operations, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Pacific. A detailed chapter on the rifles used by snipers and their equipment accompanies these. Finally, the last chapter addresses many subjects overlooked or ignored by other researchers, and provides numerous avenues for reflection. The bibliography is a valuable resource for future researchers and authors. For today's long-range shooter and sniper, the lessons of the past are as relevant now as they were when learned and practised during World War II.